I Never Left
by Julius Archis
Summary: A story about an Italian Store-owner, after the Combine invaded.


I always lived a good life. Even though I only owned a small shop, and didn't earn much. It was going all fine, back then. I was married. I had a child and loved my life in and out, just like my family. It was all nice in Rome, and I never had a break-in. By no means, never! In fact, most people, even burglars, rather bought things than stole them due to my assistant, Antal. He was a good friend of mine, yet a few years younger. He was a nice man, indeed. I only had my family, the earned money and him as a friend to get through this life. However, when they attacked, and when they tore our family apart, everything changed. I was relocated to a 'City 204', where I was living as a damned nobody. Nobody knew me, nobody liked me.

These soldiers, policemen or whatever was the last thing to look at, with their terrible masks and their uniforms, nearly invincible I thought. A few years passed. I got myself a few rations bunkered in my suitcase and a few tokens up for myself. I was relocated to City 14, a rather rough place they say. Rough, indeed. I saw gigantic, metal constructs posing as buildings; the plaza was merely a grim, dark experience of a place to live in. I disliked it. The 'Sectorial' there was also rather rough. If a man committed heavy crimes against this "Union", they were killed. I feared these people, I didn't want to end up like them, and so I helped them. I gave them information to the resisting men; I helped them arrest people and even did chores when one of these janitor-like beings weren't around. I became a golden example of a man. One day, I was even permitted a low-caliber gun; a pistol. I trained with it and got to use it at times. After dozens of permitted kills, I left the shooting be for a while. I went to get a backpack, so I went to the CWU-Shop. "What can I do for you?" I heard the woman speak, nearly as beautiful as my Orianna. I still miss her. I went to get a drink along, it costed around 20 Tokens. I gave the woman the tokens and went on my way. My apartment wasn't too good. It had what it needed; a bed, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room.

It took me time to get through my depressive cycle, and I nearly shot myself with the permitted pistol. I was given the permission to assist in a light sweep for a specific item, stolen by these resisting people. I went in to only be flanked by enemy fire, as they thought I was a unit. I hid behind a dumpster and defended myself with my simple 9mm pistol. A few units went to assist me, so I went into cover while they suppressed the enemies. I managed to shoot the resisting men into the head twice, but one of them took a grenade and ran out to sacrifice himself. I barely survived it. I… I went unconscious and moaned silently. "Man down, backup! UNION! Stay here and look for the package." The other unit nodded while I was dragged to the med-bay. I was stripped of clothing and was treated by the unit. It took me so long, but I survived. Thank… God I survived. I heard the sounds of the robotic arms sliding around me. I woke up after a few hours. I didn't feel my arms. I didn't feel my legs, either. I stood up and was guided to an armory. Coughing a few times, I noticed I was naked. But… There wasn't anything between my legs. My genitalia were gone! I was confused, very confused. I grabbed a uniform and mask and hunched back to the medbay. "Welcome to the Union," the officer said. His armband was "66885". I marked the ID before I went on my duty. I continued this for weeks before realizing. They… They took my daughter… They stole my family! I grabbed a knife and headed out a week later.

I passed a fellow Loyalist and charged into the alley, lured a unit in. I violently stabbed him to death. I continued like this for months before my armor was worn out and broken. I took the masks and put them into a bag before leaving. I went for a train while I could, and was relocated to City 17. I hooded and masked myself, and instantly looked for a haven to stay at, one that isn't controlled by these vile soldiers. I went for the Construction Site, an incomplete part of the city and went to look around for any people. I found a man in a blue-padded coat, a metallic-plated mask and a back-plate, resembling the Divisional Leaders' uniforms. I approached with caution, since I barely could even fight with these scrap-coated arms of metal. We conversed for a bit, he stated a name called "Agony". I memorized the name and continued my journey. I was given his coat to cover my identity along with a hood. I used the scrapped masks I found of the dead units' bodies to cover the now hideous face of mine while continuing my journey across the city. I soon saw the battalions of citizens and units rush to the train station along with explosions from the background. I looked out as my bionic eye scanned the area. I saw debris everywhere and a lot of metallic bits around. I walked out to see the entire plaza destroyed, the precinct was open. I could run in and steal myself newer, better augments. T A g 3, they called it. It was supposedly a heavy-metallic augment that could break concrete rock. I decided not to, as they probably were all inside to secure themselves and the information. I disregarded and ran to the train, made my best move to stand upright to blend in. I was relocated to City 18. In the meantime, a contact of mine, also an Italian, was informed of me being there. Since we were so close, city-wise, he supplied me with contraband-goods and items through suitcases. It was risky to get, but paid for itself after I hoarded up around 3000 tokens in total! I met many people. One they call 'Bolt', other is called 'Bull' and of course old 'Agony'. Along with these, I also met a set of new friends; one of these janitor-beings was named N'ak Ka'al. I learned much about his race. Apparently, they were called Vortigaunts; A race of very spiritual and consensual people. I learned of their culture and that they never waged war against their own race, but only against the Combine for example, or even the so-called "Xenians".

I made my way to sell knives, axes, crowbars, hammers and even food at times, until I had to get more supplies. Then, I met the Division leader of SWORD, a rough tactician. He confronted me after I met a unit who was patrolling. I shoved her off from detaining me and continued on my way, until he shot my bionic leg. I jolted upwards and glared around my shoulder, turning around to remove the black leather gloves to show the malformed claws I bore from this inhuman mutation I had undergone. I stepped closer and rammed my claws around his hand, disarming him and making him unsheathe his blade with rage. I stepped closer to stab him into the arm, without avail, letting him stab me into the shoulder after pulling me to the right position. I hissed in pain and stumbles back, grabbing a dropped coat and mask to run back to the slums. It wasn't safe anymore. I knew that. After heading back, I met someone called Athard. He is depressive and vulnerable. We talked and I sold him a bit food. I went on my way again to heal myself from my injuries, and flicked together my coat. Another attempt at getting my supplies was later that night. A unit had to be knocked out, resulting in another taken mask and light Kevlar. I headed to the base again to sheathe my items. I knew that my time was coming. I headed outside. I couldn't sleep. It rained and the lamps were off. It took me time to notice I was still lying on the couch in the luxury apartments. I had no real home here, in these slums. I shambled around; noticing a presence of Volks was missing. I went to their nearly battered and broken base. I grumbled and snapped my mask on tightly, wandering in. I saw no weapons, nothing was of use. I headed outside and fell asleep on a bench.

It was afternoon now, and I headed to the checkpoint. A unit guarded it. I decided to make my way past; it was the same unit that confronted me, and was too scared to pull the trigger. I snarled as he called support, so I ran back. He followed in with a DvL, presumably SWORD. It wasn't sword, I knew his voice. He was deep-voiced and bulky. This one was slimmer and higher voiced, and even had a grenade. I snarled as he pulled the pin to let me jump out of the radius in defense. I failed and fell from the railing. My bionic eye crashed and my arms completely malfunctioned. I woke up in a cell. My legs worked nonetheless, luckily. I stood up. I looked around the dark brick walls, then out the thick glassy window. I heard footsteps. A commander was coming. His uniform was darkblue. It had slacks, big black boots, two gloves and a long jacket. He had a beret on. He stepped in as I grinned wickedly. I was unarmed, tied and helpless, but I knew that he would like me here. "You know why I'm here." He stared at me, his eyes filled with malicious content. I didn't answer him. He pushed me to the wall and grabbed me by the throat. Hermann Gudmund soon entered the scene and told him to stop. It escalated into an argument. If Hermann were an anti-citizen, I would have been long gone already. I soon scrambled onto my feet and glared at the commander. He grabbed a Beretta and pulled me to the window, shooting the bionic legs of mine apart. I didn't react. I was too busy thinking. My family was gone, my hands bound and my freedom stolen. I had no need to lie or ignore him. He went out of the cell. It was night already. I fell asleep on the bench. Even though it was made of steel, it was much more comfortable than the conditions in the slums; no muggers, no murderers and no danger. I was safe in the cell. Safe from everything.

I woke up in a hospital. It was blurred, I felt my vision shake before I heard a faint yell. "We're losing him, quick!" I let out a groan before I saw the defibrillators. They jolted me up and I coughed wildly and widened my eyes. I tried sitting up, but the nurses pulled me down. I instantly looked at my hands. They weren't augmented. They were normal; normal like me, like I was never attacked. The nurses told me to calm down multiple times. I nodded twice and leaned back, coughing shortly while yawning. I can't believe I was not a monster like these freaks are. The nurses knocked to the door again and guided in a concerned looking woman and a child. It was my wife and my daughter. I couldn't help but smile from the happiness to see them, until I heard these faint whispers again. "This isn't real. You're not awake. You're leaving." I heard them over and over again before my wife and child slowly began to cry at the bed, leading themselves out to the hall. I followed, only to find the hallway stretched out widely, leading into darkness. My vision blurred again, I felt a green hint surround my eyes. I felt nauseous. I stumbled down the hall, seeing the walls deteriorate into walls akin to an asylum. I saw myself in the cells, with metallic etchings at the walls showing emotions. One of them was "Insanity". It was empty and open. I looked around with instinct, assuming it was freed. Instead, I was pushed forward into the cell, landing on my side. As I turned around, I saw a coated man, masked with a gas mask. When I looked up to see his eyes, there were none. The lenses were blacked out. He wheezed shortly and stomped away.

I woke up in a coughing fit in the morning, back in my detainment cell. I stepped up to the window, yelling out. "Anybody? Anyone!?" After a few minutes, a unit arrived. I asked for a water. The unit went inside and grabbed a can, throwing it to the ground with a chuckle. I grinned, bent down to pick it up with my teeth and walked to the bench, setting it between my shot apart knees to pop the can open. I started to drink the sparkling water can before letting it fall to the floor with a clank. The commander showed up again, guiding me to the interrogation room. He wanted answers, clearly. He demanded information about contacts I know. I instantly got Agony to mind. I explained who he was, what he did and how we met. I continued with Bull and Bolt, but the information died off. With luck, I was put back into the cell, waiting for further interrogation. The entire day was mere silence and muffled yells. I soon fell asleep and had another vivid dream.

I woke up in my house in Italy. I looked outside; everything was alright. No guns, no Cps, no combine. I walked down and oriented myself to the dinner table, where my wife and child already waited. "Good morning!" I spoke out, sitting down as my wife presented a typical breakfast. I smeared myself a bread with butter, one for my daughter as well. I ate up and went to get ready for work before I was interrupted by my wife on the way up. "Where are you going, dear? It's Sunday, remember?" I blinked and looked at the calendar. It was Sunday. "...M-my folly, I guess." I chuckled a bit and went to the living room instead. I wanted to turn on the TV, only getting static. I grumbled and tried to change the channel before hitting the news. "This friday, a man in Rome was murdered. He was stabbed to death violently by a group of teenagers demanding money. Further investigation is to be done on this subject." I saw my own face. I shocked back, hearing whispers again. "You're leaving us. Stay here, please!" They were interrupted by a yell for help and a slap. I heard clanking again and again before something wrapped around my mouth. It pulled me back, revealing an inhuman face – A big set of gruesome teeth and a lupine skull, adorning human skin which was burnt. Its eyes were pitch black. It screeched at me and wanted to dig its teeth into me.

I woke up again, in my cell. I gasped for air as I did, cold sweat running down parts of my face. "My... god..." I simply said, standing up to sit in the bench. A few hours later, the commander returned for an unusual talk. A unit, the same one that ran from me, was standing there, cocking his pistol. "I'd like to finish him off, sir," I only heard the rest in short yells as the unit was suddenly shot apart by pistol shots. I shocked up to see the unit dead. I was scared by then. Not only by my nightmares, but by the aura emitted from the CmD. He left the room and told another unit to tug the corpse away. I tried breathing evenly, closing my eyes. After another hour he returned and interrogated me further and further. It continued for a week before my information ended. "Well, Mister Archis. It seems you lived up to your usefulness." I nodded and sighed. He guided me to the amputation room. He sat me down, readying the pistol. "Tell Hermann one thing, Commander." He raised his brow. "That is...?" I coughed shortly, smiling slightly with a warm smile. It was converted into a wicked grin by my face. "Requiescat in Pace, Frater." I braced myself. At some point, I heard the gunfire before a bullet planted right into my glabella, destroying my brain. I didn't leave. I was still there. I wasn't ready to leave. I sat down in the darkest corner of this insane asylum and waited for my turn to come. They left me.


End file.
